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June 1, 2015

Student Body Officers at Corner Canyon Take the High School Experience to New Heights

Article Savanah Tiffany | Photography Provided

As most students can attest, high school is both the best and the worst of times—often simultaneously. And while the elected student body officers are in charge of many important fundraisers, assemblies, dances and more, it’s the small services that really have an impact.

Before school starts each August, elected Student Body Officers (SBO) choose a theme for the entire school; something to set the tone for the year to come. This year, the theme was two simple words, Rise Above. The officers definitely took those words to heart. While they did an amazing job pulling off large events such as Spirit Week, and the Christmas fundraiser, they don’t mind rising above their usual responsibilities.

“It was a lot more work than I thought,” says Jamie Baker, student body president. “You have to be really dedicated… sometimes we’re here until 9 p.m.! It’s like a full time job.”

All of the officers agreed, most of them referencing a lot of early mornings and late nights. For Coleman Broman, PR officer, those early mornings are well worth it.

“Every morning we get here at 6:50 in the morning and open doors for students, greet them, and pass out treats and stuff,” he says. Why give up that extra hour of pressing the snooze button? “Just to make the school a better environment, a good place to be. So it’s an upbeat, happy place. A lot of time schools are a drag… we want to try to increase that attitude of happiness.”

Encouraging a safe, welcoming environment was only part of the bigger picture though. Building a school from scratch is no easy task. Not only did the student officers have to figure out how to work with each other, they had to find a way to unite the entire student body. When you’re dealing with upwards of two thousand students all coming from an assortment of different schools, unity can seem daunting.

“Being at a new school, you get to start new things, but there’s no set precedent of what to do,” says Megan Bartholomew, art officer. “We had to be creative.” Jamie recalls one memorable success during Spirit Week, a time at the beginning of the school year for students to celebrate their school pride. It was a crucial time for the SBO’s to set a tone of solidarity that would last for the rest of the year.

“At the beginning of the year we gave out free t-shirts to everyone that just, like, had our theme on it of Rise Above, and they didn’t have to pay for it,” she explains. “I love that because then everyone had a chance to have something they could wear to games and other school or sport events.” Jamie hopes that future officers will continue this tradition so that every student can feel included—like they’re part of something bigger.

Most of all, they just wanted to make school fun. Spirit and Pride Officer McKenna Packard says she remembered the SBO’s her freshman and sophomore years, and wanted to build on their example.

“They were just so cool and tried to make everything fun and include everyone,” she says. “I wanted to, you know, not beat them at it, but just try a little harder to be a little better. I wanted to change what people think high school might be like and, I don’t know, just make it something to look back on. Something memorable.”

Trying a little harder to be a little better, and continuing to improve upon the previous year; these are the things that Corner Canyon’s officers hope future class leaders will embrace. The big fundraisers, the football games, and the dances are important and memorable. But it’s the little things that will continue these students’ legacy of rising above.

Savanah Tiffany is a graduating senior at Corner Canyon High School, who fences competitively. She is a nationally ranked sabre fencer and assistant coach at her fencing club. She will be attending the University of California, San Diego this fall to study cognitive science and compete with their fencing team.